Not Once In A Blue Moon

Alka Gurha

India

Nov 19, 2012

BEATING THE BLUES

Author: Seema Hingorrany

Publisher: Random House India/ Edbury Press

Price: Rs. 299

Genre: Self-Help

Depression is a common malaise, but people are wary of discussing it. Dr. Seema Hingorrany, a Mumbai-based clinical psychologist and trauma researcher, analyses the vicious cycle of negative thought patterns, in her book ‘Beating the Blues’.

The term ‘depression’ is widely and indiscriminately used in today’s world; making it difficult to notice and track its symptoms. Dr. Hingorrany says, “Depression is nothing but an overdose of unwanted information leading to data accumulation, which causes difficulties in processing, integrating and storing information.” She's obviously IT savvy!

She begins by providing the reader with specific sets of symptoms that appear over time – which can be detected as clear signs of depression. In a chapter titled, ‘Intervention’, the author anatomises common forms of dysfunctional thought patterns in detail. According to her, some people magnify the negative details of their life and filter out the entire positive from their minds; some have ‘black and white’ thought patterns, without any shades of grey; some magnify a single negative incident, and keep thinking about it; and some always think that the worst is going to happen to them. Dr. Hingorrany categorises these thoughts, and comes up with realistic solutions.

The author narrates true life stories of her patients, making the book interesting. She also uses several statistics, and survey and research reports by various leading psychologists, to help the readers get a logical perspective of the problem.

According to Dr. Hingoranny, “Many times medication is not required. What is required is a lot of talk therapy, and working on negative beliefs.” This book is a sensible guide for those who are going through a low phase in life, but are wary of discussing their negative emotions and thoughts.